Eduardo Rodriguez expects to throw on flat ground in coming days

Eduardo Rodriguez is expected to throw on flat ground "in the coming days," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. When he gets off a mound is not yet clear.

By Tim Britton @TimBritton

NEW YORK — Eduardo Rodriguez is in a period of "active rest," manager John Farrell said Tuesday, as the left-hander recovers from another subluxation of his right knee.

Rodriguez visited with Dr. James Andrews on Monday for a second opinion on the knee, which he injured on Thursday during a pregame fall in the bullpen in Baltimore. Although Rodriguez pitched into the sixth inning despite the injury, it was his worst start of what had been a breakthrough season.

Rodriguez is expected to throw on flat ground "in the coming days," Farrell said. When he gets off a mound is not yet clear.

"We've not been given any kind of a time frame by Dr. Andrews," said Farrell.

"He just said to get the knee ready, take the time to get back. Make the knee stronger," Rodriguez said of his visit with Andrews. "It was good news because I don't need to get surgery. I just need to rest a little and get the knee stronger."

Indeed, this is generally encouraging news for the Red Sox, though this injury has lingered in the past for Rodriguez. When he first endured it last spring, the initial prognosis did not include Rodriguez missing the first two months of the regular season. It also did not factor in the diminished confidence that the left-hander would pitch with upon his return — a symptom of the injury that led to a demotion in June.

In fact, just last week Rodriguez attributed much of his success early this season to trust in his health.

"Last year I was hurt with all the struggles getting back with mechanics," he said. "This year, coming out of spring training, it was just making the roster and pitching well and pitching healthy. That’s the best part: just pitching healthy.

"You just go out and have a game; you're not thinking if you're going to break your knee or something like that."

With faith in his knee restored, Rodriguez was no longer tinkering with mechanics and simply relying on his outstanding stuff.

"No. 1, he feels 100 percent physically," pitching coach Carl Willis said when evaluating Rodriguez's season two weeks ago. "His stuff speaks for itself. It's just a matter of him trusting all his pitches."

That’s what makes the timing of this so frustrating for Boston. The injury occurred at a time when Rodriguez appeared to be coming into his own, perhaps even challenging for an All-Star berth. Now, he may not pitch in a game before the break.

The return of David Price and recent improvement from Drew Pomeranz mitigate the loss of Rodriguez to an extent, but also highlight the rotation's inability to be wholly healthy yet in 2017.

Rodriguez expressed confidence Tuesday that his increased familiarity with this specific knee injury — this is the third time now that it's happened, counting an additional occurrence when he pitched in winter ball last offseason — will allow him to overcome this instance of it more quickly.

"It's happened to me three times already, so I know how to deal with it," he said. "This year I've been working so hard so that it doesn't happen again. I feel like my body is strong enough to get back quicker than the first two times.

"I know how to get back."

Both Farrell and Rodriguez pointed to his ability to pitch into the sixth inning in Baltimore even after the fall as a positive.

"With each time that it has occurred, the recovery time has been less," Farrell said. "That’s a testament to how much work he does to keep the quad strengthened and keep himself in a position where the knee has him stable. I can’t predict what the future is going to be for him but we’re hopeful through rehab he is back to us."

The Red Sox recently saw infielder Marco Hernandez go under the knife for surgery to repair a shoulder that kept dislocating; might similar action be required eventually for Rodriguez?

"I'm not thinking about surgery; I'm just thinking about getting back," Rodriguez said. "If you're thinking about surgery, you’ve got your mind out of where it needs to be."

Tim Britton writes for the Providence Journal of GateHouse Media.

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